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All Eight Husky Crews Advance to Pac-10 Grand Finals

RaNCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - All four Washington women's crews that competed Sunday morning successfully advanced through heat racing and will join the four Husky men's boats that earned automatic berths into this afternoon's grand final races of the Pac-10 Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma.

The grand finals begin at 1:50 p.m. with the men's freshman eight race. The championship regatta concludes with the men's varsity eight grand final at 2:50 p.m. followed by the women's varsity eight race at 3 p.m.

The afternoon weather forecast calls for temperatures approaching 100 degrees with a slight breeze in the Sacramento area.

The 15th-ranked UW women's varsity eight finished third in its heat to advance to the six-boat grand final. UW clocked a time of 6-minutes, 40.0-seconds to finish behind the 6:33.7 turned in by Stanford and the 6:37.8 of Washington State. California won the other heat in 6:32.2, followed by USC (6:40.8) and Oregon Sate (6:41.4).

All six crews in this afternoon's final of the women's featured event are ranked in the national top 20. Cal's varsity eight is ranked No. 1 followed by No. 4 Washington State, No. 10 Stanford, No. 12 USC, No. 14 Oregon State and No. 15 Washington.

The three other UW women's crews were victorious in their respective heat races.

The women's second varsity eight remained unbeaten in seven races this season despite catching a crab at midway point. The Huskies recovered and held off Washington State at the finish line. UW completed the 2,000-meter course in 6:47.5 and the Cougars were two-tenths of a second behind in 6:47.7. California's winning time in the other heat was 6:45.6.

The first heat of the varsity four competition was won in impressive fashion by defending champion Washington. The Huskies streaked out of the blocks and almost immediately took a boat-length lead. UW posted the fastest time in the fours at 7:30.3. Washington State was a distant second in 7:36.9. Cal won the second heat in 7:32.5.

The Huskies and Cougars were paired in the same heat in all four women's events, including the novice eight race. UW's first-year rowers opened an early lead and went wire-to-wire to record a first-place time of 7:05.6. WSU's second-place time was 7:09.0. The Golden Bears won the other heat with a time of 6:57.3.

During the morning session, Washington and Cal combined to win seven of the eight heat races. The lone exception was the second heat of the varsity eight, won by Stanford.

A few non-conference schools competed in the Pac-10 regatta which also serve as the Pacific Coast championships. Those teams will not be included in the Pac-10 team standings, but they are eligible to row in the grand finals.

One school taking advantage of that was Gonzaga, which registered third-place performances in the women's varsity four and novice eight races to earn grand final berths.

There were no heat races in any of the four men's events. UW's four men's crews automatically advanced into the grand finals.

Defending men's varsity eight champion Washington seeks to capture back-to-back Pac-10 championships for the first time since 2003 and 2004.

This afternoon's men's varsity eight race features a clash between three of the nation's top-10 ranked crews. Defending conference champion Washington is ranked No. 1, Stanford is No. 7 and California is No. 8. Also competing in Sunday's race is No. 14 Oregon State.

Live video and unofficial results from the Pac-10 Rowing Championships are available Sunday on the internet at: www.jamcotimes.com

A recap of today's action will be available Sunday afternoon at the official UW website, www.gohuskies.com